gemfibrozil to be taken 30 minutes before food

[ykw]

why is that gemfibrozil has to be taken 30 minutes before food? tried to read about the rationale but couldn't really find it.

[mhb08112]

Complete and utter guess, but by looking at it's structure it has a carboxylic acid group at the end of it... In presence of larger amounts of acid this may mean the drug is less stable, hence the 30 minute before food warning, so more of it gets absorbed?

Don't shoot me if I'm wrong.

[mhb08112]

Just checked my drug design notes, this sort of tallies... COOH groups mean poor absorption from the gut, which is only worstened by presence of bigger amounts of acid (I think)

Quickly scanned the structures of the other fibrates, and none of them seem to have a terminal COOH group, hence why the warning may be specific to this drug.

[bobbin]

(gemfibrozil to be taken 30 minutes before food)

It's not normally taken at all! It's a very long time since I saw a script for gemfibrozil. It's been abandonned, almost.

According to Pfizer:

'Gemfibrozil is well absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract after oral administration with a bioavailability close to 100%. As the presence of food alters the bioavailability slightly, gemfibrozil should be taken 30 minutes before a meal.'